Newton Aycliffe 0, Consett 1
By Dave Strickland
Newton Aycliffe crashed out of the Durham Challenge Cup in the first round with a narrow defeat at home to Consett on Tuesday night.
The visitors were on top for most of the match, apart from the last ten minutes, when Aycliffe pushed forward for an equaliser.
Consett had a chance as early as the second minutes, but James Winter was alert and saved from Mackay.
Consett continued to press, but Aycliffe did break out in the 17th minute when Jack Oliver crossed for home debutant Paul Kane to get a shot away. This was smothered by the Consett defence.
The Consett pressure finally told in the 37th minute, when Mackay broke free again and this time put his shot past Winter.
The second half mirrored the first, with Aycliffe mounting a rearguard action.
They were restricted to trying to score on the break, with the speed of substitute Matt Pennal causing the Consett defence some problems.
Aycliffe went for a late equaliser, and almost had it in injury time when James Oliver got his head on the end of a Kurt Matthews corner, but it went agonisingly just past the post.
Aycliffe’s next game is a trip to Whitley Bay in the Northern League first division on Saturday.